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Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa

In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa. Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex. Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy.

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Subject: Extension Education × Author: DAS, ANKITA × Start date: 2018 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    TECHNOLOGICAL GAP IN ADOPTION OF IMPROVED TURMERIC PRODUCTION PRACTICES IN SAMASTIPUR DISTRICT OF BIHAR
    (DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) DAS, ANKITA; PRAKASH, SATYA
    ‘The land of spices and flavours’, India owns the glory of being the lead producer, consumer and exporter of spices in the world. These spices are known for their flavour and aroma in Indian market and also in the global marketplaces. To improve the flavour and taste of foods and beverages, spices takes an essential part in cooking. Different spices were used for their medicinal properties from ancient times due to their medicinal values. As spices have antibacterial properties, it is used in preservation also. Among different spices grown in India, turmeric holds an important role as it is 4th highest produced spices in India. India is the global production leader of turmeric and contributes 80% of the total production followed by China and India is also the largest consumer and exporter of turmeric in world. Turmeric (Curcuma longa), is known as ‘the golden spice of India’ and is grown in India since ancient times. It belongs to Zingiberaceae family and underground rhizome is the economic part. ‘Indian saffron’, i.e. turmeric is a very high value crop and has its broad spectrum of use. It serves as a spice, dye, and medication and cosmetics, and even in religious ceremonies. Apart from being a major ingredient in kitchen, it is also useful in skin diseases joint pain, respiratory problems, digestive problem etc. Since ancient times, turmeric has been employed in India's Ayurvedic medical system. It is promoted as a carminative, antibacterial, blood purifier, and stomaching tonic. Bihar contributes and important proportion in the total turmeric production of India. Turmeric is a popular commercial crop of Bihar, especially in Samastipur district. Samastipur is the highest producer of turmeric in Bihar and turmeric of Samastipur has gained attention in international market. But it is observed that the average productivity at national level is way more than the average productivity of Bihar. Here exists a huge yield gap and according to the data there is opportunity to boost production of turmeric with appropriate technologies, so that all the turmeric growers can achieve the potential yield. In present study on ‘Technological gap in adoption of improved turmeric production practices in Samastipur district of Bihar’, ex-post facto research design was used. 80 turmeric growers were selected randomly from four villages in Pusa and Samastipur block of Samastipur district. Using the assistance of structured interview schedule, the data was collected from the respondents. For the present study two sets of variables namely, independent and dependent variables were selected. Social, personal, communicational and psychological variables were taken as independent variable and knowledge of the turmeric growers and technological gap were selected as dependent variables. The important statistical measures used to analyze the research data were, frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s correlation, regression and canonical correlation. The study showed that, in case of experience in turmeric cultivation, social participation, annual family income, extension contact, mass media exposure, innovativeness, scientific orientation and economic motivation, majority of the respondents belonged to the medium level category. For other variables, age (mostly old aged), gender (male dominated), caste (mostly general caste), education (majority up to secondary education), land holding size (majority marginal farmers), results were revealed. As regard to the dependent variable ‘knowledge’, majority of the turmeric grower fell under medium level knowledge category, where highest knowledge index was measured in case of selection of land for planting, harvesting, earthing up, field preparation, etc and the lowest knowledge index was found for mulching, plant protection practices. In context of ‘technological gap’, majority had medium level of technological gap. Highest technological gap index were calculated in case of mulching, plant protection practices where, lowest technological gap index were found in selection of land for planting, followed by harvesting practices. In regression analysis of independent variables with ‘knowledge’, it was found that at 5 percent level, age and scientific orientation had a positively and significantly association with knowledge, and social participation has positively significant relation with knowledge at 10% level. In case of correlation analysis between various factors and ‘technological gap’, it is revealed that age and experience in turmeric cultivation were positively correlated with technological gap at 0.05 and 0.01 level of significance. Again education, social participation, land holding size, annual family income, extension contact, mass media exposure, innovativeness, scientific orientation were negatively correlated with technological gap, being significant at 1% level of significance and lastly economic motivation was also negatively correlated with technological gap at 5% level of significance. Farmers practicing turmeric as a commercial crop in the study area have faced some constraints regarding their production practices, like; lack the knowledge about disease and pest management technologies (85%), insufficient repayment period of credit from banks (88.75%), high rainfall and flood in Samastipur district (92.5%), insufficient marketing facilities for turmeric (57.5%) etc. This study has indicated the existing knowledge level of the farmers regarding improved turmeric production technology, measured technological gap in recommended turmeric production practices and also revealed the factors affecting it. This study has also put some light on the constraints encountered by the turmeric growers of the study area.